DANGAL - Shabhash !

STORY -

It is a biographical sports drama about Mahavir Singh Phogat & his daughters Geeta Kumari Phogat & Babita Kumari, their journey into the world of wrestling & fulfilling the dream of winning a gold medal for the country to make a much needed strong statement in this patriarchal society. Since this is based on real life story & characters, few cinematic liberties have been taken for the dramatic effect.

MOVIE -

Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan), former national wrestling champion has now given up on his dream of winning a gold & wishing to have a son to fulfil his dream. He gets devastated when the fourth child born is also a girl. The teenage daughters unwillingly go through the fierce training sessions. Consistent mocking in the society & facing a strict father becomes too much for the kids. They try to rebel but eventually are made to realise what they're rebelling against. The pace here is pretty decent & most importantly no songs act as speed-breakers. Humour & emotions are equally balanced throughout the first half filled with terrific wrestling sequences featuring Zaira Wasim playing young Geeta Phogat. She's equally supported by Suhani Bhatnagar (young Babita). Director Nitesh Tiwari has got the detailing right in establishing these characters which instantly connect with the audience.

Post interval, the story moves in a predictable pace with Geeta Phogat moving to the NSA & losing her concentration which ultimately affect her performance as well as her relationship with her father. Again it's the realistic feel captured that keeps the movie going. Also the strong first half helps you stay connected with all the main characters. Though there's little space for humour, Aparshakti Khurrana playing the close-cousin provides enough humour without going overboard. As the pace dips here, it's the powerful performances that elevate every scene & realistically shot wrestling matches are a hoot. The last two matches gives you the edge of the seat feeling.

Similarities with Sultan or even Saala Khadoos which released earlier this year are inevitable. All of them tried to highlight the same elements such as - underdog story, poor coaching, lack of proper support, patriarchal society & a failed sportsman wanting to fulfill his dream again. What separates Dangal from them is the realistic portrayal. While Sultan played to the gallery, Dangal keeps it subtle & of course it does eventually plays to the gallery which I don't want to reveal as the result can be witnessed in the theatre. Dangal hits every right emotions be it patriotism, feminism or father-daughter relationship.

PERFORMANCES - 

The true stars are the four girls.

Zaira Wasim played young Geeta Phogat & Suhani Bhatnagar played young Babita have done terrific job. They truly bring life to the two characters. They're part of the majority of the first half & they've handled each scene with amazing conviction.

Fatima Sana Sheikh played older Geeta Phogat & Sanya Malhotra played older Babita give top-notch performance. Just like the younger girls, even they live their characters. I wish there was more of Babita's character or a sequel is a made focusing on her.

Sakshi Tanwar has got limited opportunity but she has done a good job in all the scenes. Girish Kulkarni as the poor coach is first rate.

Aparshakti Khurrana provides ample humour & also the kid playing his younger self. He plays the perfect side-kick.

Finally, the perfectionist. Kudos to Aamir Khan for coming up with yet another restrained mature performance. Definitely one of his best. It's not just about his dedication but the way he balances each scene with all the four girls.

POSITIVES - 

1. The story of Mahavir Phogat & his daughters. This demanded to be made into a film & thanks to Aamir Khan for saying yes to this project.
2. The 4 girls are the life of this film.
3. Entire training episodes in both first & second half.
4. Wrestling matches in the first half with boys.
5. Aamir Khan vs Fatima Sana Sheikh face off in the second half.
6. Phone sequence.
7. Semi Final & Final matches in the second half.

NEGATIVES -

1. Predictable which results in pace dropping in the second half.
2. Songs don't yield the expected impact. Though not a huge problem, one does expect better music in an event film.

MY RATING - 4/5

FINAL WORDS - Shabhash !

BEFIKRE - Watch it at your own risk. I DARE YOU. I DOUBLE DARE YOU.

STORY -

Okay, Dharam & Shyra are the main characters. She's French born Desi girl who is carefree & Dharam is the usual Delhi ka launda who is careless. They get into a casual relationship which turns into live-in relationship & results in their break up. Now, both of them decide to renew their relationship by renaming it as friendship. What never seen before stuff happens next? Will they discover love out of lust or ruin their friendship due to love is definitely not the way story is presented in the film, heck, the way I wrote it here looks tons better than what's shown on the screen. Anyways, it's the usual will they? won't they? story.

In short, it follows the grand dialogue from, Maine Pyar Kiya - "ek ladka aur ek ladki, kabhi dost nahi ho sakte".



MOVIE -

Dharam (Ranveer Singh) lands in Paris to be a stand up comedian at his friend's bar. Like every guy ever portrayed in these scenario, he dreams of hooking up with as many French girls possible, only to be rejected. His "cuteness" & "honesty" impresses Shyra (Vaani Kapoor), a French born Desi girl who agrees for one drink followed by one song/dance & one night stand but quickly reminds him that LOVE is out of question as she just had a break up & want to stay single. Dharam surprisingly pursues her despite all the warnings & as usual wins her over. It's a relationship alright but nothing to do with love. Loads of kisses follow up in order to show they're having sex 24/7. Then in a quick show reel, we're shown the differences between them leading to fights & eventually their break up. Shyra gets serious whereas Dharam tries to be a playboy to get over her. 1 year passes, they get back together to celebrate their break up anniversary & decide to be friends. INTERVAL.

Now, all of a sudden, Dharam & Shyra become this YRF/Dharma approved friends that they plan everything together. To an extent, Shyra wants Dharam to decide what she should wear on her date followed by Dharam becoming the third wheel. Not surprisingly, everything turns corny, filmed in slow motion, a dream song occurs to announce the grand arrival of LOVE. This is entirely focused on Dharam to let us audience know that it's he who realises first. As usual melodrama continues, with Ranveer showing his rear talent, Vaani sporting bikini, followed by few more kisses, the director feels it's time for one more set of slow motion shots with the dream song being repeated to show even Shyra has come to realisation. Both Dharam & Shyra conveniently decide to get married to their "fiancee & fiance" on the same day & at the same venue. You can guess the rest. Actually no, it is here where Aditya Chopra tries to be Aditya Chopra by introducing a lengthy dance duet between the couple & without any warning Aditya Chopra decides to pull off a Sajid Khan on us. So expect Housefull/Humshakals kinda forced buffoonery in the end, if you dare to sit through the movie.

PERFORMANCES -

Ranveer Singh as Dharam gets to play Ranveer Singh for 130 odd minutes. All his off screen antics are on full display here. The actor Ranveer is completely missing. In the end it's all madness & nothing worthwhile to mention.

Vaani Kapoor is actually good in the ill-written role. She's mesmerising, awesome while dancing in fact shows more energy than Ranveer. But there's hardly anything for her to perform in this cardboard character which has been over done already.

Supporting cast is just there for the sake of filling the scenes. The actors who played the parents of Vaani, well I remember them through AIB & TVF so they're just there. None of them leave a mark or to say none of them get anything to leave a mark. Even the girl Ranveer dates, gets interrupted amidst her strip-tease so.

DIRECTION -

Aditya Chopra with all his right intention has got everything wrong in order to desperately reach out to the current generation. It might as well be a small film with a very simple story (or lack of it), but his attempt to make it a cool urban romantic film really gets on your nerves as he has only limited set of tools to showcase. Either make them kiss every now & then, or make them abuse each other. After Karan Johar's attempt at trying Imtiaz Ali's style of narration, this is Aditya Chopra's attempt, rather a failed one. Even the break up anniversary reminds us instantly of break up celebration from Love Aaj Kal.

And I agree, it's the expectations. Even with zero expectations, Aditya Chopra is such a big brand that it is impossible to even imagine such a bad film from him.

Positives -
1. Vaani Kapoor.
2. Kisses.
3. For those interested, Ranveer Singh's butt.
4. Some dialogues in the first half especially pre-interval is relatable.

Negatives -
1. Poor writing & direction.
2. Extremely predictable, filled with cliche in the second half.
3. Terrible Sajid Khan-esque climax.
4. Songs are not upto the mark considering the standards set.

My Rating - 1.5/5 (1.5 french kisses. 0.5? hmmm that would be without any tongue action.)

Final Words - Watch it at your own risk. I DARE YOU. I DOUBLE DARE YOU.

P.S. - The film is rated UA by the great CBFC but apart from all the kisses, bikini closeups, strip teases, they've allowed the Ranveer Singh nudity without any objection. There's a limit to double standards.

Dishoom - Varun Dhawan shines in an highly forgettable film.

Story -

Indian cricket team's top batsman Viraj Sharma (Saqib Saleem) is kidnapped before the final match against Pakistan. The Foreign ministry assigns this case to Kabir (John Abraham) who flied down to Dubai to solve the case & he finds a partner in the form of Junaid (Varun Dhawan), a rookie cop in Dubai who is yet to solve his first case. They've 36 hours to save Viraj Sharma. Without any clue about who has kidnapped him or where is he being held, the task is near to impossible. How will the duo achieve their mission? How Ishita (Jacqueline Fernandez) helps them out, forms rest of the story.

Movie -

Rohit Dhawan follows the old template of every buddy cop movies ever made. He sticks to the basics throughout. The initial reel introduces Viraj Sharma & his whole kidnapping episode is established as a mystery. John Abraham's Kabir is a hot headed, no non-sense cop & his introduction scene showcases exactly that. Then there is Junaid who is a rookie cop with a sole purpose of providing comic relief & with the film's given script, it's up to him to carry the whole film. The pace here is good & the entire first half is passable with quite a few entertaining moments, thanks to Junaid's character & one surprise cameo. Before the pre-interval, the main twist is revealed with the entry of Wagah (Akshaye Khanna) & the first half  does end on a high note.

Post interval, the writers have completely given up on the screenplay. Since they played all the major cards (twists) in the first half itself, the focus is mainly on the visuals, action scenes that are lavishly shot & an unnecessary item song that just tests your patience. Again the sole positive aspect of the second half is Junaid's character & Varun tries his best to salvage whatever's left. With no twists around, Akshaye Khanna's Wagah becomes a cardboard one dimensional character that suffers from bad writing. As seen in every buddy cop movie, this ends with the usual cliche filled pre-climax & climax, offering literally nothing. Second half is a huge letdown. And in the pre-climax we get Saare Jahan Se Achcha out of nowhere.

Positives -
1. Varun Dhawan & his energy. Ofcourse his honest performance.
2. Akshay Kumar is a riot as a gay person.
3. Phone conversation between Varun Dhawan & Satish Kaushik.
4. The entire episode pre-interval with Akshaye Khanna.
5. The chase sequence with Rahul Dev is perfectly done.

Negatives - 
1. Poor writing that results in lacklustre second half.
2. Bad music. Pritam sir, what have you done? The opening credits song doesn't matter but Sau Tarah Ke & especially Jaaneman Aah in the end credits is unbearable.
3. Akshaye Khanna's character suffers the most due to poor writing in second half.
4. John Abraham looks disinterested throughout the movie. He has exactly 1 expression for the whole movie. It's supposed to be a 2 hero movie & one of them isn't contributing at all.
5. Forced patriotism. Be it Viraj's dialogue about desh se gaddari nahi karna or towards the end forcefully playing Saare Jahan Se Achcha in the background makes no sense. Stick to the template, why force feed something that too patriotism like this?

Performances - 

Varun Dhawan is at his goofiest best. He has no problem in being portrayed as a loser as you get to hear villains say "Isko (Kabir) 4 goli maarna & yeh (Junaid) toh lagta hai goli ke awaaz sunn ke hi mar jayega". His comic timing is  impeccable & he carries the entire film on his shoulders.

John Abraham struggles. One wishes for him to lend some support to Varun Dhawan. He should've at least try to take inspiration from the recent Ride Along series if not the Lethal Weapon & others.

Akshaye Khanna... well it's always nice to see such a fine actor on the big screen. I for one, surely had missed him. But his characterisation is at fault, so he gets very limited scope. The mediocrity towards the end actually impacts his character badly.

Jacqueline Fernandez has a short role but she gets to show her legs errr dancing skills in one song. Nargis Fakhri is a special appearance gets to walk in a bikini in slow-motion so that Varun Dhawan can stare at her for comic relief. Saqib Saleem is good. Rahul Dev is another actor who is fun to watch in a Hindi film. He doesn't get much to perform but is part of the nicely shot chase sequence. Satish Kaushik lends his voice but those scenes are hilarious. And there's special appearance from few cricketers right from Mohinder Amarnath to Ramiz Raja.

And of course Akshay Kumar. He's the best thing audience can take home in this movie. He has no problem playing the gay person & the result is a laugh riot.

My Rating - 2/5

Final Words - Varun Dhawan tries his best to save this forgettable film with some help from Akshay Kumar for 5 minutes.

Salman Khan - The real King Khan at single screens.

I've always been fascinated by Salman Khan's fan following among the masses. Being his hardcore fan, it has become a tradition for me to watch his films more than once. I tend to mix it up by watching it first at a multiplex where I'm extremely comfortable & then follow it up with a single screen experience where honestly I'm not that comfortable with the kind of audience I've to share those 3 hours time.

Salman Khan is an experience. Multiplex audience can never give me the sort of experience I get from single screen audience. Yes, Salman Khan is a huge crowd puller and definitely multiplex audience whistle, hoot, scream & occasionally danced too (interestingly dancing happened only during Jai Ho). But from what I've seen, they just come to enjoy the movie & of course the Megastar. In single screen however, the audience come to celebrate Salman Khan & his movies. Everything else is additional. That's exactly what differentiates those two movie viewing experience. That's why every EID, I witness double celebration.

Like I said, most of the times I'm not comfortable with the kind of audience I get in single screens, they get over-excited every time. I don't get to hear a single word for almost 20-25 mins until they settle down on their own. The celebrations are always at the extreme for those initial minutes. I can't stand smokers too. But all this is a small price worth paying to be a witness to my favourite literally get worshipped by hundreds of audience.

All the madness, no matter how many times they get beaten up by the cops or get scoldings for causing traffic jam or for getting too noisy, it refuses to reduce. I said I'm a fan but I've never been part of a fan club. Again, just to witness those same gang of boys invest themselves to decorate all the posters with garlands, get their own hoardings, risking themselves to climb that wall with a low quality ladder... all of that for one person whom they love, Salman Khan.

If given a chance, honestly I wouldn't do those stuff. I never learned to whistle myself, one of the reason why I enjoy other people whistling for Salman Khan. I can pretend to be worried for those guys safety whenever they climb up the ladder or play with firecrackers, but let me be honest... the moment they start enjoying & infect the whole atmosphere where rest of the people start to encourage / enjoy the whole show, more often I've found myself to be part of the rest of the people & enjoy the whole fan-giri. I might not be willing to do those stuff, but I've always seen myself at the opposite end of the road either filming them or clicking photos, getting mesmerised by the shear madness. In the end, seeing so many smiling faces who all are unrelated yet connected by one person, is the best part of the whole thing.

Having such a command over his giant fan following, I will admit that I'm extremely happy with his choice of films off late. I was terribly bored during Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, but I would any day prefer him preaching family values via Rajshri style than singing Main Kutta hoon, tu meri kuttiya hai in Ready.

SULTAN is a winner.

STORY -

Sultan Ali Khan (Salman Khan) & Aarfa (Anushka Sharma) are local wrestlers who dream of representing India at the Olympics. Love blossoms between the two and they get married. What happens when two people have their dreams & aspirations get intertwined with each other? What are the sacrifices they need to make to walk the path of glory? Both life & the sport itself provides them with second chances & how they fight back with all they have got, forms the entire film. After all, Wrestling is not a sport, it's about fighting what lies within...

MOVIE - 

Akash Oberoi (Amit Sadh) is running a failed pro-wrestling league. With sponsors threatening to pullback from the championship, he's advised to get an Indian wrestler to participate in the championship by his father. Once a world champion, an Olympic gold medallist Sultan Ali Khan (Salman Khan) is suggested to be the right wrestler. When Akash visits Sultan, he's in for a surprise. Sultan has given up wrestling, he is out of shape & is not at all interested to enter the ring ever. Failing to convince Sultan, Akash looks up to his friend Govind who takes him through the story of Sultan. The first half completely relies on the love story between Sultan & Aarfa. A careless 30-something guy Sultan finds his motivation in Aarfa & decides to become a wrestler to earn respect in her eyes. To prove her that he's not the "Shit guy" she thinks him to be. While achieving all this, he forgets to realise the sacrifices others are making for him to succeed. He wins the championship but loses in life. A personal tragedy pushes him to the pit of guilt which he struggles to come out off.

Akash Oberoi offers Sultan a second chance to redeem himself. He lost everything due to wrestling so a chance to win everything back through wrestling itself. But this time, it's not the same sport Sultan is trained at. He has six weeks to train himself to take on that second opportunity. For others, it's just a championship but for Sultan, it's a battle to win back the respect he lost, win back the love of his life & defeat the demon Sultan in him who caused all the pain. Enter Randeep Hooda in a special appearance who accepts to train Sultan on time. Rest is how Sultan overcomes all the challenges in the form of various wrestlers & the final match which is the match of his lifetime where his opponent is none other than himself.

The first half is well handled in establishing the love story. It's very simple at heart, some of the dialogues reflect the actual reality & hits you hard. Also the humour is consistent. The pace is moderate here. It's the second half where the pace drops as the concentration shifts towards the pro-wrestling league. Action is handled well & second half doesn't has too many unnecessary melodramatic scenes which works very well for the film. The film doesn't show Salman Khan in the same image as his previous releases. Here, his character is at fault & he's shown paying the price for his mistakes. It's up to the audience to receive such honest portrayal of his character.

Performances -

Salman Khan has come up with a bravura performance. He's dedicated & lives the character. Anushka Sharma as Aarfa is equally terrific. She has got a strong character & she does full justice. Randeep Hooda in a special appearance is first rate. Amit Sadh as Akash Oberoi is good. Anant Sharma as Sultan's friend Govind is very good.

Positives -
1. Salman Khan at his best.
2. Very touching love story between the lead characters. Also Salman & Anushka compliment each other very well. Even if Sultan is about Salman Khan, Anushka's role isn't any lesser to him.
3. The scene where Salman Khan breaks down in front of a mirror.
4. The hospital scene, both at interval & towards the end. While Anushka shines in the interval scene, the second scene has both of them competing equally.
5. The MMA fight sequences are very well handled.
6. The humour is consistent throughout & most of them succeed in making us laugh.
7. Watch out for Suzi. Jag Ghoomeya is magical on screen.

Negatives -
1. The film is a sports drama with more emphasis on the love story. You'll be disappointed if you enter expecting an hardcore action film.
2. Main wrestling tournaments in the first half are all shown in one song & also some of the pro-wrestling matches too get wrapped up in one song. For example - we just get to witness Sultan directly winning a gold medal at Olympics without any scenes showing the matches that led him to reach the final.
3. Since the focus is more on the drama, the pace will seem slow.
4. The story is predictable.

My Rating - 3.5/5 (As a fan a 4/5 for Salman Khan's bravura performance.)

Final Word - Sultan is a winner.

Raman Raghav 2.0 - Nawazuddin Siddiqui shines in a weak, sick & utterly disgusting movie.

Story - 

This is NOT the story of the real Raman Raghav. This is a film set in contemporary times as the character is heavily inspired by the original serial killer. It's about Ramanna aka Raman (Nawazudding Siddiqui) finding his successor in the form of Raghav (Vicky Kaushal) ergo the title Raman Raghav 2.0.

Movie -

Anurag Kashyap & his co-writer are highly ambitious. The story is told in the form of chapters, an interesting way to narrate. Yes let me put it right away, the story they've in hand is not interesting. All the problem is with the writing. The attempt is solely on creating shock, disgust feeling, that the script takes the back seat completely & apart from Nawaz every other character is badly written.

The moment Raman surrenders & starts narrating, we the audience believe him completely. We totally agree that he's a psychopath who has no remorse in killing & we believe the way he justifies all his murders. His dialogues are top notch, though the analogy he makes for his murders is outright crazy, it goes down perfectly well with his character. The attempt is to establish what kind of a psychopath serial killer he is & we are convinced. The problem is with Raghav's character. He's a bad cop who is a drug addict. Apart from this, no other explanation is provided. We know why Raman is a psychopath but just because Raghav is a drug addict we're supposed to believe he's similar to Raman.

The story's pace is worse than snail walking & it only makes it worse. Songs don't help at all. Yes the story is divided into eight chapters, true. But the purpose of those eight chapters is to prove two things - shock the viewers with those ghastly scenes & to show how Raghav transforms into the psychopath, Raman wants him to be. It's the second thing that's not achieved. In one scene, Raman tells he never killed anyone by accident. The writers forget to show Raghav's character that way. He's just a drug addict, who acts crazy. The one acceptable reasoning comes way towards the end & it's too late by then as none of Raghav's acts are justified & no way they can be termed as psychotic.

What makes the movie disgusting is the writers crossing the line just to create shock. The chapter involving sister, yes it had terrific acting, the actors did complete justice, all that is fine. But to what level will you stoop down to just to create the sense of disgust & shock. Raman mouthing those disturbing disgusting lines explaining how he used to rape his sister to his brother-in-law in front of their kid is not something acceptable. No, a brother boasting about how he's thankful for not impregnating his sister isn't remotely necessary. After all the shocking revelations, the sister offering the brother to have sex with her in order to save her husband & child is a BIG NO. There are plenty of movies that has handled incest, spoken about inbreeding etc... never came across such disgusting scenes ever. Extremely cringe-worthy & the writers could've achieved the same in a different way. The original Raman Raghav did rape & murder his sister, we know, but there's a proper way to show even a ghastly thing like that.

Performances -

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is terrifying & lives the character of Ramanna aka Raman. He's the sole saviour of this debacle. Vicky Kaushal has the screen presence but his act is so one-dimensional that the weak characterization just doesn't give him any chance. With the movie titled Raman Raghav, it's indeed a blow to the movie itself with Raghav being a weak character.

Sobhita Dhulipala is good but again weak characterisation just shows her to be a helpless woman being used as a sex object by Raghav. She's shown to be too weak to break off the relationship despite 3 abortions.

Amruta Subhash is honestly very natural as the sister. But that whole chapter is so disgusting, we just wish the writers to have come up with a better treatment to the ordeal her character goes through.

My Rating - 1.5/5

Final Words - Nawazuddin Siddiqui shines in a weak, sick & utterly disgusting movie.

CBFC, take a bow for just reducing the sex scene by 50% yet allowing everything else. Seriously how worse can you get?

Independence Day: Resurgence - Thankfully it warns us right away about the third film.

Story -

Back in 1996, an alien race decided to attack Earth, basically all the monuments which the vfx team could afford so that The United States of America like always step up to save the world. 20 years later, the aliens are back & human race i.e. the defence forces of The United States of America have to fight back again. Of course July 4th is the date of battle to justify the title.

Movie -

Director Roland Emmerich plays it safe from the word go. He has the budget & like we've seen in all his previous disaster films, he doesn't try anything new but opts to rehash the same thing over & over again by attacking the same buildings over & over again, with The United States of America fighting back over & over again, only thing is the technology supporting him big time. But this time the speech comes nowhere closer to the epic President speech in the 1996 film.

This is a typical Roland Emmerich film, filled with cheesy moments & cheesy dialogues throughout. It follows the same pattern as the 1996 film, giving literally no time for any character development. We have the recurring characters from the 1996 version whom we're familiar with & then we have a bunch of new characters whom we don't build any sort of bond to care. Will Smith isn't part of the cast & there's nothing that the movie offers to miss him or not miss him.

Towards the end, they're so out of ideas that they insert a never seen before mother alien chasing down a school bus driven by Jeff Goldblum filled with kids & his dad. Never seen before as King Kong never chased down a car, Godzilla never chased down a cab, T-Rex again never chased down a car & mother alien never chased down Ripley in Aliens. It's a never seen before scene because of all the vfx & this being in 3D. Does this save us from boredom? Not even a little.

Performances -

There's nothing to boast about. All characters go through the dialogues mechanically blurting out space terms now & then otherwise filled with extremely cheesy lines. It is good to see the recurring characters, not to lie about that. But there's nothing for them to do, neither focus is made to explore about what happened to them in 20 years. There's an alien attack & then there's another alien race that calls us humans as primitive yet with all the sophisticated technology, the alien just acts like a dumb animal chasing down a school bus.

Technical Department -

The vfx is first rate. That's the only saving grace or to say that's the only thing the makers invested in. Wish they had invested little bit on the script. Well there are scenes in outer space so the 3D isn't really worth completely complaining as it has something to offer. But let me complain anyways as it's just robbing us off the extra money we pay for the glasses. Anyhoo, lesser monuments are destroyed this time. Wonder what we Indians did as no Taj Mahal or Gateway of India was considered worthy of destruction.

My Rating - 1.5/5

Final Words - Meh.

And yes the film's ending does imply there'll be a third film. Warning received.

Udta Punjab - Second Act Di Maa Di.

Story - 
Punjab is cursed with drugs problem as 70% of the youth are drug addicts. This issue is highlighted through 4 main characters, Tommy Singh (Shahid Kapoor) a rock star cum drug addict, a Bihari labourer in Punjab played by Alia Bhatt, Sartaj Singh (Diljit Dosanjh) a corrupt cop & a concerned doctor Preet Sahni (Kareena Kapoor Khan). How these characters get caught up in this war on drugs & how their stories get interlinked is the film.

Movie - 
First of all, Udta Punjab doesn't glorify drugs. Yes, the film does glorify abuses but that just serves as mirror to the actual reality. First act is solid as all the 4 main characters are established perfectly. Tommy Singh is a rock star currently going through a professional crisis due to his drug addiction. The way he is careless about the world or his life for that matter & so heavily dependent on drugs to find any sort of stability is perfectly handled. Alia Bhatt, the innocent Bihari labourer unknowingly invites trouble which ends in devastating result of her getting kidnapped by the drug mafia & held captive to be used by the gang as well as corrupt cops is heartbreaking to the core. Also Sartaj Singh's change of heart after going through a personal tragedy & the righteous Dr. Preet Sahni declaring war on drugs, the first half literally ends on a super high note with the director completely in control of his story. Special mention to the prison scene where Tommy Singh realises how carelessly he had become a worst role model to the youngsters.

It's the second half where the director decides to make it more filmy. Unlike the first half which was dark, brutal & realistic, the second half chooses the easy route by adding too much of filmy moments, a forced romantic track spoiling the flow as well as messing up the characterisation of the main leads. It's here where the romantic overtone between Sartaj & Preet looks dragged. Sartaj's character acting like the righteous cop becomes monotonous. The focus shifts on Tommy Singh & Alia Bhatt's Bihari character where the director uses humour a bit too much, diluting the impact the film had till then. A drug addict like Tommy Singh gets over the addiction just because he saw a girl & listened to her horrible story, is way too hard to believe. Even Alia's character is shown going through the hard ways to fight off her addiction. Since the focus is on entertainment, it's Tommy Singh's character who provides it, despite the dark theme & this part comes out as odd.

Anyways, the director once again takes back control over the script in the final act. Humour continues to find it's way amidst all the brutality but by now we're way too familiar with the characters so the focus is on what happens to these characters instead of the larger issue i.e. drug problem which the trailer had promised to focus on. Considering that, it can be termed as an abrupt ending where no solution is provided to the problem. If the director had not forcefully tried to insert a romantic angle then this entire final act would've come out much stronger instead what transforms on screen isn't what was expected from it.

Performances - 
Shahid Kapoor shines in his role of Tommy Singh. He gets it right from the very first scene & have to say it, all complaints about second half aside, it gives ample scope for Shahid Kapoor to act & he grabs it. Again special mention to his act in the prison scene.

Alia Bhatt once again rules. She wins over everyone from the word go. Udta Punjab belongs to her. Her character's name is never revealed throughout the film but yes, she does live her character.

Diljit Dosanjh has made a wonderful Bollywood debut. He's in control & very confident. Kareena Kapoor Khan is first-rate. She brings the much needed maturity with perfection.

My Rating - 3/5

Final Words - Second Act Di Maa Di.

The Conjuring 2 - Lives upto the expectations, double the scares & double the chills it is.

Well the prequel was a smashing hit worldwide & given James Wan's stint with horror films, it wasn't a surprise that The Conjuring will find itself  a sequel. The question was, will it live upto the expectations? or will it go down like the Insidious franchise? The difference is due to James Wan himself, who turned producer for those other films, he continues as the director for The Conjuring sequel. Honestly, the one of the best decisions ever.

So Ed & Lorraine have moved onto other cases. This time, they're shown to be investigating the infamous The Amityville Haunting. Considering the numerous films that exist already based on The Amityville Haunting, guess we don't get witness one from The Conjuring franchise (it definitely is turning out to be one.) Anyways, Lorraine encounters a demon which gives her a premonition of her husband's death, which scares the hell out of her. The couple decide they'll put a break to accepting new cases for a while. Just then the church contacts them over a case which the media has termed as "England's Amityville".

After the initial scenes of Ed & Lorraine, the focus shifts to England onto the family of a  mother & her four children. Her husband has left her to another woman & she's trying to pull it through. Just like it's prequel, ample time is given to establish these characters. The kids come off so natural that audience get connected to them instantly. The kids do play with a Ouija board, hoping to talk to a spirit thus inviting the dangerous one. One of the girl gets possessed. Every single one of those scary teases where the kids are toyed with is worth your money. The scares are aplenty. The police wash off their hands & soon the plight of this family turns into a media circus.

While the church doesn't want another hoax to hamper it's reputation & people wanting to desperately prove the family to be reason behind all this fake incidents. The concerned look upto Ed & Lorraine for the help who reluctantly agree. Like Lorraine in the background voice over describes this case to be one of the most haunting ones, you are going to have to watch it to see what's so different about this particular case.

Positives - 
1. The film is filled with too many scary scenes. Worth your money.
2. The performances are top notch. While Patrick Wilson & Vera Farmiga are in form, the children get all the applause.
3. The main twist is effectively handled which is why this sequel stands tall compared to other Horror film sequels.
4. Patrick Wilson showing his other side as a singer providing us with the best impersonation of Elvis's Can't help falling in love. Amidst all the madness, that particularly stands out.
5. Special mention to the Crooked Man. Watch out for the terrifying scenes involving him.
6. James Wan is in full control. How I wish for him to have directed the Insidious sequel.

Negatives -
1. A couple of ordinary scares are thrown into.
2. Ed & Lorraine's characters get a push only towards the second half when they arrive at England.

My Rating - 3.5/5

Final Words - A Must Watch Horror Sequel.

Couldn't help it,

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse.
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

Every rape is fair & acceptable when it's Cinema.. CBFC approved.

RAPE... An extremely inhuman, disgusting act that's haunting not just India but the entire world & speaking on behalf of fellow concerned Indians, it's a grave issue, which we all have been failing to handle.

When our film writers take up this issue to present in their films... it's all about getting it closer to reality, over exaggerate the insult the girl or her family might face, giving instant justice to the girl at least unrealistically just to please us frustrated viewers who have failed the victims in reality. Yes, mostly these scenes are forcefully inserted in a screenplay just to give a proper hero elevation scene where our hero gets to show his anger, disgust, disappoint & use all those emotions to take matters into his own hands. Just like everyone of us feel like doing when the system fails us. A need to raise above the system & get the justice on our own. My question is, how long will you want to exploit this feeling among viewers? If the answer is as long rapes keep happening then the answer is wrong in every which way.

I just want to point out few films in last few months, that have seriously misused this issue for nothing. The exception is made for Puri Jagannadh directorial movie called Temper & that entire movie revolved around one rape victim. Tried to use the Nirbhaya incident in it's favour. I'm not condemning this movie considering the issue was integral part of the script. My particular problem was with Kick 2, Theri & Sarrainodu.

In Kick 2, villain's son wants to take over his dad's position. The other henchmen mock him at his dad's party, saying he isn't man enough to take that position or even have the guts to kill. Frustrated guy gets drunk, pounces on an innocent girl serving food at the party & rapes her in front of everyone. Why? because he wanted to prove he's a man. While everyone watches, he bashes her head & kills her. Why? because he wanted to prove he has the guts to kill. Just a scene to deliberately create a melodrama between the victim's mother & the hero in the very next scene where she tries to hide this fact from the hero. Later the hero gets to know about it in the climax which makes him bash all the baddies which he was always going to do anyways. That's it, the very purpose of that brutal scene was only this.

Coming to Theri.. I'll admit as a viewer while watching, even I liked the scene. Not the rape, but the actions of the hero. Clear example of exploiting our emotions. What I didn't like about this U rated film was the detailing in the dialogue where the doctor explains what was inserted inside the girl's private part to destroy evidence. Yes, we have loads of crime story shows telecasting on various tv channels, various press reports letting out more details than required.. Honest question related to ethics, what was the point going into such details? Why did CBFC rated it U? I said I'll exclude Temper, but even there the torture scenes weren't cut. CBFC had just ordered to show those scenes in black & white. Girl gets tied & beaten up with belt, gets drilled, acid poured on her, tortured & raped for 42 days... U/A rating only demanded the scene where hero kills the rapists to be trimmed by 30%-40% but not the torture. What's with this special treatment by CBFC when it acts all butt-hurt over adult comedies or even words like saala?

Onto the third film, Sarrainodu. Personally I'm disgusted with the rape scenes but Sarrainodu took it way too far. The girl is killed by her abuser. After she dies, the guy rapes her. Why? Just so that the girl's parents can emotionally say "sachi poyina vadaledhu (didn't leave her even after she died)". Ofcourse this is followed by a court scene where the dead girl's character gets assassinated to an extent where even the 80s films' court scenes will be put to shame. All of this just to show hero getting angry & then he chops off the limbs of the rapist. Writer expects, the audience are happy now that justice is done. REALLY?

I don't care who blabbers about women empowerment, women's safety in movies. But when you take up an issue & try to take advantage of it, where's your ethics? You've written a lead character which requires to be glorified. Most of our commercial films tend to be patriarchal. We want our heroes to solve all our problems on screen. We want our heroes to get angry at all the issues we get angry at. We want our heroes to do things which we common people are not allowed to do or don't take enough courage to do. All that is understandable for decades now. But the moment you've fully understood the seriousness of the situation/issue then to see it being used so lightly, doesn't go down well. Honestly, the above 3 films I spoke about, if you remove those rape episodes from the screenplay, nothing would've happened to the film. Neither will the hero look weaker. Any writer or as a matter of fact any person should stick to his/her ethics & stand by their principles.

I had still not made up my mind to speak up until I stumbled upon a recommended video on youtube last night. A Telugu movie again & that scene forced me to speak up. NO, I don't approve CBFC rating this film. It's highly unacceptable to have such scenes. Reality or not, film maker should be socially responsible & so does the Censor Board. I'll let you watch that "wonderful" scene & decide it for yourselves.

My conscience is intact. Where is your's?

Sarrainodu - Mandatory beheading & chopping of limbs, typical Boyapati Sreenu film that disappoints.

Story -

Gana (Allu Arjun) is ex-military who doesn't have any other job but just to get himself involved in fights against baddies. Dhanush (Aadi) is the real baddie among all baddies, who does various atrocities & is a kingpin of sorts. Dhanush is all about his image & Gana hates anybody that brags about their image. Rakul Preet plays the damsel in distress, building the bride between Gana & Dhanush. What happens when they two clash forms the story.

Movie -

The template is simple. Opening act, introduce the villain (Aadi), followed by introduction of the hero (Allu Arjun). One is completely evil while the hero is equally evil for the baddies. There's Brahmanandam for comic relief. Catherine Tresa as MLA as well as love interest of Allu Arjun is therefore introduced for the love angle & ofcourse for the songs. The pace remains okayish throughout. Rakul Preet Singh contributes to the hero elevation scene in the interval block.

Post interval, the routine formula of flashback is opted which narrates the story of Rakul Preet & her family. The reason for the conflict between her & Aadi is established. Not surprisingly, once the flashback ends, Allu takes over the conflict. This is followed with scenes of more heroism. The pace remains flat throughout the second half, no matter how much scenes are forcefully added just for hero elevation. No place for logic in this film & there's no prize for guessing this.

Performances -

Allu Arjun in an out & out massy role looks dedicated. Rakul Preet is okay in her role. Catherine Tresa doesn't get much to do. Aadi is a good actor but has a painfully ill-written role. Srikanth does good in his limited role. Brahmanandam is wasted as usual & also his comedy doesn't work here. Saikumar is hardly there. Pradeep Rawat is shown as a joker. Jayaprakash as Allu Arjun's dad is first rate. Vinaya Prasad hardly gets a dialogue despite playing hero's mother. Suman appears in two scenes. Devadarshini tries to be funny but in a way those scenes are racist.

Plusses - 
1. Allu Arjun's energy.
2. Movie is filled with 6 action scenes. For a typical Boyapati Sreenu's audience, it might be a treat.
3. Some humour (intended & unintended) towards the climax.

Minusses -
1. Extremely violent. For an U/A film, Boyapati Sreenu makes sure he inserts a beheading & chopping of limbs as seen in his previous films.
2. What's with the rape scene in all the recent films? Nope, may be a decade back it was helpful to show heroism but now it's just disgusting. And all other films it's rape & murder but in this film, the girl gets killed first & then gets raped. This I refuse to call as creativity or even a necessity. Utterly disgusting.
3. Songs are not good.
4. For a change, one of the heroine is an MLA & hero gets to stalk her & harass her in the name of love. The whole thing comes out super fake even for a forgettable commercial entertainer template. Hard to digest.
5. Villain's character is once again very badly written one. Why waste good talented actors on such roles?
6, Gets tedious & boring quickly.

My Rating - 1.5/5 (This time no leniency.)

Final Words - This typical Boyapati Sreenu film disappoints.

Fan - Rehne De... Tu Nahin Samjhega.

Story - 

Gaurav a die hard fan of Aryan Khanna, calls himself as the Junior Aryan Khanna from Inder Nagar, Delhi. He has let Aryan Khanna grab the major part of his life & his only aim in life is to meet his idol in person. What happens when he tries to meet his idol? What happens when his obsession takes a dangerous turn? What happens in this battle of Star vs Fan? The answers to this forms the entire film.

Movie -

The first half is decent paced as it firmly establishes the character of Gaurav. Best thing about the first half is it has been kept as realistic as possible. The journey of Gaurav from Delhi to Mumbai has been very well handled & the moment when Gaurav watches Aryan Khanna for the first time is captured superbly. The character of Gaurav is so well written that even his personality speaks to the audience. He's an obsessed fan but a shy lover yet he's an over enthusiastic kid when it comes to his idol. The twist in the tale & the plight of Gaurav when he doesn't understand why he's being punished is yet another master-stroke. The first half ends on an emotional high.

The second half straight away falters by trying to follow the predictable path. Despite that, the intentions of the writer & director is pretty clear. The references between Aryan & Gaurav is well drawn here. The shock in Aryan's face when he fails to understand why he's being punished  is another master-stroke. But then the writers decide to take it too far & the film loses the touch of reality, going completely against the tone set by the first half. The pace considerably dips big time here as there isn't much suspense left. The film picks up towards the climax as once again the two main characters clash & this time it's the emotional clash rather than plain chasing.

The ending was spoiled to me already thanks to the miscreants in the social media. It did lose it's impact but also the predictability of the screenplay in the second half had it's fair share in lowering the impact.

Performances - 

Shah Rukh Khan is at his best as both Gaurav & Aryan Khanna. It's a treat to watch him especially as Gaurav. There are certain moments in first half & towards the end of second half where he just steals the show.  Waluscha D'Souza hardly has anything to do. In fact the supporting cast looked good on screen but they had nothing much to do as the entire film relied only on Gaurav & Aryan.

Plus - 
1. Shah Rukh Khan's bravura performance.
2. The scene where Gaurav watches Aryan outside Mannat for the first time.
3. The jail scene in the first half.
4. The same scene with Aryan in second half in London. Like I said the reference is perfectly made.
5. Gaurav's reaction in the pre-climax.
6. Role reversal. It's not always Gaurav stealing the show, Shah Rukh Khan shows his control as Aryan Khanna too.

Minus -
1. Becomes completely unrealistic in the second half.
2. They took it too far in the second half. Morally it was unacceptable to see Aryan get insulted to such extent.
3. The movie has his heart in the right place but it does go against the film in major scenes post interval resulting in logic take the back seat.
4. Predictability.

Also, the first half of the film set such high standards that second half found it to be impossible to match it.

My Rating - 3/5 (Just for Shah Rukh Khan.)

Final Words - Rehne De... Tu Nahin Samjhega.

Theri - A predictable entertainer that just about works.

Story - 

Joseph Kuruvilla (Vijay) & his daughter Nivi (Nainika) are living in Kerala. The cute girl's teacher Annie (Amy Jackson) is impressed over Joseph. As she tries to get closer to him, certain hidden secrets start creeping up. He's not who he says he is. Now who is Joseph Kuruvilla? Who is Vijay Kumar? What is it that Joseph is hiding in order to protect his daughter? The answers to these questions forms the entire film.

Movie -

Initial reels start of on a simpler & heart warming note establishing the father & daughter characters with their cute little antics. Joseph is the one who stays away from any controversies. Annie (Amy Jackson) hits a goon for misbehaving which leads to the goons running over Annie & Nivika with their car. Annie lodges FIR against the goons & Joseph Kuruvilla's true hidden identity starts to creep up.

The film is completely formulaic masala entertainer that relies on the flashback as the true backbone to the entire screenplay. All in all, it's a simple revenge story that sticks to the basics. The pace of the first half of the film is good as it has enough comedy elements & commercial action elements with proper build up to the hero. The story turns serious with the rape episode & it's handled effectively. The interval ends on a high note yet again for Vijay starrer.

Post interval, the pace dips as it travels through the predictable path. The logic takes a back seat. The flashback scenes once again takes up major screen time in the second half too. Thankfully, there are no extra songs here just for the sake of the presence of another heroine. The last half an hour of the film totally pleases the fans & action film lovers as Atlee delivers what he promised to give in this Vijay starrer.

Performances - 

Vijay is THERIFIC in his role of Vijay Kumar & Joseph Kuruvilla. He has handled both the shades extremely well along with his trademark antics. Samantha Ruth Prabhu is decent. Amy Jackson doesn't impress & gets limited screen space. Radhika Sarathkumar impresses whenever she appears on screen. Prabhu Ganeshan gets hardly any scope to perform. Motta Rajendran uses the given opportunity ably. 

Special Mention to Nainika playing Vijay's daughter. She's a show stealer, extremely cute & lights up the screen every time. Meena's daughter is destined to have a great future. Mahendran has given another THERIFIC performance as the main villain of this film. The ace director shines & looks ever menacing throughout.

Plus - 

1. Vijay & Nainika chemistry.

2. Strong interval block.

3. Very well shot action scenes. Infact more credit to the cinematographer for the quality product.

4. The last half an hour.

5. Tamil directors know to create extra sentiment to tragic scenes. But what works this time is the proper timing of the dialogues.

Minus -

1. Extremely predictable film. In fact there's no suspense left whatsoever 10 minutes into the movie.

2. Amy Jackson looks uncomfortable throughout.

3. Songs don't work at all. Kudos to Atlee to not have an extra song in the second half instead the dance number between Vijay & Amy Jackson is shown in the end credits.

4. A bit too violent themed for a U certified film.

My Rating - 3/5 (Extra 0.5 just for Baby Nainika, she's way too adorable especially her cute dialogue delivery.)

Final Words - A predictable entertainer that just about works. On the other hand, treat for the fans who were extremely disappointed with Puli.

The Jungle Book - The best cinematic experience of 2016 so far.

It's always fun to see our beloved characters come alive on the big screen. It's not just about the nostalgia or our love for the characters / story, it's about taking that journey to the magical land & for those 106 minutes living with those characters. A brilliant novel achieves & despite the visual aid, we rarely see a cinema perfectly achieve this. The Jungle Book falls into those rare list of films.

This 1894 novel has consistently mesmerized generations with it's captivating story & heart touching characters, making our childhood feel like as adventurous as Mowgli's life in the jungle through it's various adaptations through films or tv-series. The world has kept on changing for better & The Jungle Book has stayed on to be the better story each time. Be it the 1942 version or the 1967 animated version, the journey this story takes us has been the same.

Now in the era dominated by CGI & motion capture, this epic story & beloved characters deserved this technology. Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo, Kaa, Shere Khan, Raksha, Akela are alive on screen & apart from the technology, it's the stupendous voice over by stellar star cast which includes, Bill Murray, Sir Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlette Johansson, Lupito Nyong'o, Christopher Walken & ofcourse Neel Sethi, the young kid all provide the soul to the characters. Thanks to Jon Favreau for doing superb justice to this story, doing the needful changes to the tone of the film. It's a lot darker than we knew The Jungle Book as yet it stays as heart touching & full of fun as ever.

This version of The Jungle Book is a visual treat. I just for fun, re-watched the 1942 & 1967 version films before watching this 3D re-telling of the tale. Having known this story for over 2 decades now & also having re-watched the older gems once again this week, I still felt like being exposed to the characters for the first time. I felt the characters emotions as if it was the first time. This is the magic of cinema. Hats off to the cast & crew for this.

May be I went with the mindset of not wanting to be critical towards this movie. I bought the ticket & just let myself in on the journey of Mowgli. Every other character Mowgli encounters instantly made a connection. May be I didn't want the makers to change the story much. I just wanted The Jungle Book I knew. We're going to have yet another Jungle Book movie next year, so let the changes happen in that version.

Plus -
1. The riveting CGI.
2. Voice over by the stellar cast.
3. Neel Sethi as Mowgli.
4. Initial scenes showcasing the relationship of Mowgli with Raksha, his wolf mother.
5. Shere Khan's entry.
6. Baloo teaching the Jungle song to Mowgli.
7. The entire King Louise episode.
8. Stunning visuals that included landslide.
9. The Elephants.
10. Basically the entire Jungle.

Minus - 
1. The pronunciation of the characters names by the western actors. Also certain words like bandar-log is more relevant as a hindi word to us but it's pronunciation disappoints. Probably the Hindi dubbed version would do more justice to it.
2. Wanted a bit more attention given to Akela. I'm just greedy here.
3. The pace drops a bit in the second half but is made up by action packed climax.
4. As usual didn't enjoy 3D much. May be IMAX 3D would offer something better.

My Rating - 4/5

Final Words -  A visual spectacle indeed.

Sardaar Gabbar Singh - 163 mins long video of self propaganda. Thattukovadam kashtam ra babu.

Story - 

Rattanpur is a village that still has a royal family with their internal feuds. There's a royal villain (Sharad Kelkar), a helpless princess (Kajal Aggarwal) & enters a maverick cop (Pawan Kalyan) who will save the helpless princess as well as the helpless people of the village from the royal villain.

Movie -

Since it's routine screenplay sticking to the basics, the film starts with introducing Sardaar Gabbar Singh as an orphan kid followed by the scenes reserved to establish Bhairav Singh (Sharad Kelkar) character through his heinous atrocities. Following this is the entry of the hero Sardaar Gabbar Singh (Pawan Kalyan) in Indo-Nepal region, ofcourse just for an action scene & an opportunity for Pawan Kalyan to say "Entire India is my jurisdiction". Anyways, the ways of Sardaar results in him getting transferred to Rattanpur. Now that the two characters are introduced, time for the princess Arshi (Kajal Aggarwal) to make her appearance in a scene right away trying to prove how helpless she is. Anyways blah blah comedy.... blah blah comedy in the name of romance.... blah blah an item song featuring Raai Laxmi... blah blah heroism... The stage is set... Bhairav Singh lusts for Arshi whereas Sardaar & Arshi are in love. blah blah, a forced accident scene involving kids to create sentiment for the well hyped interval bang.

Post interval, Bhairav Singh seeks revenge, Sardaar wants to help in things that doesn't concern him (what's the point of him mediating in selling the palace to a businessman, he's a cop for heaven's sake. But again it gives an opportunity to Pawan Kalyan to speak about CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility. Well he knows things people, remember it during next election) & as usual Arshi falls head over heels every time Sardaar shows some heroism. Blah blah comedy, well Brahmanandam is there so can't help. Suddenly, the love affair of Sardaar & Arshi gets revealed, she's royal blood, he's an orphan.. ergo from a lower caste. Oh why! Well an opportunity for Pawan Kalyan to speak up for lower caste people, you can guess the speech.

Enter the final act, Bhairav Singh over powers Sardaar in his own cunning way. Sardaar who is supposed to be more cunning, just doesn't see it coming & falls for the trap. While Sardaar grunts like every honest cop proving himself to be not corrupt, one thing leads to another, Bhairav Singh & Arshi's marriage is fixed. Anyways, during the Sangeet ceremony Sardaar goes there to plead forgiveness (?!) instead he's asked to entertain by dancing only because Bhairav Singh forgot to invite Shah Rukh Khan to perform. Let me admit, the whole Sangeet episode is the highlight of the film just like the antakshari scene in the prequel, Gabbar Singh. Sudden twist leading to action filled climax where it only takes one punch for our hero to win. Seriously?!

Oh yeah, Raja Sardaar Gabbar Singh continues.... Are they really gonna make the third part?

Performances -

Pawan Kalyan show all the way. Kajal Aggarwal looks pretty. Sharad Kelkar tries to look menacing. Brahmanandam tries to be funny. Urvashi succeeds in being funny. Ali is wasted & so is Tisca Chopra. Mukesh Rishi gets a decent role. Sanjjanaa in an almost dialogue less role. Long list of actors who've nothing much to do.

Plus -

1. Pawan Kalyan

2. Sangeet scene. Pawan Kalyan dancing to the songs of Megastar was super fun.

Minus -

Way too many to list.

My Rating - 2/5 (1 star for Pawan Kalyan, 0.5 for the comedy & 0.5 for everybody's dedication to complete remaining 70% shoot since this January)

Final Words - 163 mins long video of self propaganda.

NEERJA - After Bajrangi Bhaijaan, it's Neerja who brings back the tears & the feeling of pride.

STORY - 

Neerja tells the story of a martyr who sacrificed herself to save 359 lives & went onto become an inspiration to million others. The story focuses on the last two days of Neerja's life & the events which transformed her to become a hero.

Neerja Bhanot (Sonam Kapoor) is the youngest daughter of Rama (Shabana Azmi) who has to leave home for work 2 days before her birthday on 7th September. She's the head purser for PAN AM 73 flight carrying 379 passengers to New York via Karachi. A die-heart Rajesh Khanna fan, she's also a well known face thanks to her modelling career. Despite her successful modelling career, she's happy being an air hostess. While she bids goodbye to her loved ones, in Karachi, a group of Libyan terrorists are preparing themselves to hijack the plane in order to demand a release of a terrorist. While the story moves back & forth firmly establishing the scenes from both angles (Neerja's as well as Libyan terrorists), the mood is effectively set. How does one react an unthinkable situation they're forcefully put in? How does Neerja stands out from rest of the people? How could Neerja be that strong at that moment? What did she go through in those hard times? To know all this, watch the movie.

Plusses -

1. Terrific pace of the film. No boring moments.

2. Brilliant performances by everyone.

3. Stupendous direction by Ram Madhvani.

4. Once the hijack happens, there's no stopping. You will not be able to take off your eyes from the screen.

5. A story which must be told.

6. Beauty of the screenplay lies in the fact that all of us no what's going to happen in the end, still effective narration makes us want a fictional ending just to see our hero alive.

Scenes that touched hearts as well as gave goosebumps -

1. The effective mix of scenes - both terrorist attack as well as Neerja's abusive marriage. So nicely used to depict how strong her character has evolved into.

2. The scene where Neerja (Sonam) is holding onto the kids while they say "We want to go to our mom" & she replies "Me too".

3. Zindagi lambi nahi, badi honi chahiye.

4. The scene when Rama (Shabana) is informed about the hijack by her husband & how she tells him to stay strong.

5. The whole hijack episode... goosebumps guaranteed.

6. Such high performance from the actors who played terrorists... Khalil, man oh man... his outburst is so scary that even other terrorists stay afraid of him. That whole scene, kudos to the actor as normally in such films nobody really care to notice the terrorists as the sides are already been chosen.

7. Sonam Kapoor in 3 different scenes - why not mentioning them individually? Because the purpose of these 3 scenes is to show her get control of herself & evolve stronger.

8. The entire climax, completely ruled by Shabana Azmi. The legend shows why she is one. Just her eyes.

9. Pushpa, I hate tears.

10. And the end credits where a bunch of real photographs of Neerja Bhanot is shown. The real Indian daughter. Standing ovation guaranteed.

Special Mention to the Performances - 

This is a role of a lifetime for Sonam Kapoor. What you see is not Sonam instead she makes us believe that she's infact NEERJA. The powerful actress in Sonam Kapoor got unleashed big time. Salute to Shabana Azmi. Terrific performance. It's these two actresses who have made sure justice is done to the real story. Can't imagine any other actress in their place.

A bit of concern on why Pakistan banned this film -  

This is definitely the most shocking decision by Pakistan film chamber. The film depicts Libyan terrorists hijacking the plane & if Neerja is doing her part inside the plane, it's the Pakistani officials & the army that do their honest work to save everyone. There were multiple scenes showing honest Pakistani officials plus it's Libyan terrorists for heaven's sake. Lastly, even Pakistan gave Neerja a bravery award, it's Pakistan that sentenced the 4 terrorists to death initially, later to be changed to lifetime imprisonment. Don't understand what made them hesitate in letting this story to be told in their country.

My Rating - 4/5

Final Words - Don't you dare to miss this flight. The head purser is gonna leave a lifelong impact on you.